Apparatus for combining strands



Aug. 3, 1937. G. E. HENNING 2,088,701

APPARATUS FOR COMBINING STRANDS I Filed Oct. 25, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 4 FIG. I 40 INVENTOR G.E. HENNING BY A TTORNEY' Aug. 3, 1937. I

| INVENTOR j 6..HENNIN6 av 52mm ATTORNEK I Patented Aug. 3, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICIE 2,088,701 APPARATUS FOR COMBINING STRANDS Western Electric New York, N. Y.,

assignmto Incorporated,

Application October 23, 1936, Serial No. 107,177

8 Claims. This invention relates to an apparatus for combining strands and more particularly to apparatus for knitting a. cover or sheath of textile strands on an electrical conductor strand.

In the manufacture of certain types of insulated electrical conductors, e. g. the conductor cords used in connection with telephone instruments, switchboards and the like, it is highly desirable to have the cords as flexible and enduring under repeated flexure and torsion as possible. It has been found that a cord having a conductor comprising tinsel strands carried on a central textile core strand and a sheath or cover of textile strands knitted over the tinsel conductor when provided with the customary layer of rubber insulating compound and outer braided textile sheath has the desired properties of flexibility and endurance to a high degree.

An object of the present invention is to provide 0 an apparatus for knitting a seamless tube of textile strands as a sheath about a central core strand, the apparatus to be simple and rug ed in construction and rapid and reliable in operation.

One embodiment of the invention contemplates a circular knitting machine having an annular plurality of needles carried in one or more groups in one or more rotating and reciprocating carriers to knit strands drawn through stationary guide means.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which the same reference numerals are applied to identical parts in the several figures and in which Fig. 1 is a broken view in vertical central section of a circular knitting machine constructed in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a broken enlarged view of a portion of the product of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a similar view of a modified form, and I Fig. 6 is a similar view of another form.

In the embodiment of the invention herein disclosed a circular knitting machine has a base or support 28 of any suitable kind on which is mounted a stationary combined three part frame and housing 2|, 22, 23, within which a flier 24 is 50 rotatably iournalled in antifriction bearings 25 and 29. On the lower end of the flier is rigidly mounted a gear 21 which meshes with and is driven by a gear 28 mounted on a shaft 29 driven by motor means not shown.

55 Crank shafts 30 and 3| are ioumalled in the right and left arms 24 of the flier respectively and have pinions 32 and 33 respectively mounted on their ends outside of the flier, which both mesh with a stationary ring gear 34 mounted within the housing 2|. The inner end of each shaft 30 and 3| within the flier is a crank and carries a connecting rod 39 or 31 respectively.-

Through the vertical axis of the housing and flier is positioned a hollow shaft 35 carried by and secured to the flier. On this shaft is slidably mounted a pair of interlocked but relatively slidable needle supports 38'and 39 respectively, which are therefore reciprocable with respect to each other as also on the shaft 35. The connecting rods 36and 31 are pivoted as shown to the needle supports 38 and 39 respectively.

The upper end of the shaft 33 is formed as a conventional needle cylinder with a plurality of longitudinal slots 40 in each of which is housed a needle 4| whose upper end is formed with the customary knitting hook and provided with the customary pivoted latch. Every other one of the annular plurality of needles is offset radially outwardly in its lower portion and secured in the needle support 38 as shown at 42 while the alternate needles are similarly secured at 43 in the support 39.

Above the tops of the needles and concentric with the axis of the machine is an annular strand guide 44 stationarily supported in any suitable manner not shown, and provided with a plurality of guide apertures 45 through which strands 48 to be knitted together may be drawn from supplies not shown. The guide 44 also has a central aperture 41 to pass a core strand 48 if desired.

The needle supports 38 and 39 are prevented from rotating on the shaft "35 and relatively to the flier by means of a slotted guide lug I48 on a crossbar 49 rigidly mounted on the flier.

In operation a core strand 48 is drawn downwardly through the machine from a supply not shown by any suitable means not shown, and the shaft 29 is rotated by suitable motor means not shown. The shaft 29' drives the flier 24, 24 through the gears 28 and 21. The pinions 32 and 33 on the crank shafts 39 and 3| are revolved by the flier and therefore are rotated by the stationary ring gear 34. Thus the crank shafts are rotated and reciprocate the connecting rods 36 and 31 which in turn reciprocate the needle carriers 38 and 39.

Since the two cranks of the shafts 30 and 3| are set to be 180 apart, the needle carriers will raise and lower the needles secured to them in alternation, and the needles thus rising and falling while revolving will knit the strands 46 about the strand 48 in a fashion too well known to require detailed explanation.

A product of the machine constructed and operated as just described is shown in Fig. 4. In this form it is assumed that each group of needles actuated by one of the crank shafts 30 or 3| has as many needles as there are strands 46, so that there are altogether twice as many needles as strands. Also it is assumed that the diameters of the pinions 32 and 33 are alike and each of such magnitude relatively to the diameter of the ring gear 34 that the pinions each make half as many rotations on their own axes in one revolution around the ring gear as there are strands 48. Then the loops along the line AA will be formed by the needles driven by one of the cranks and those along the line 3-3 by the needles driven by the other crank.

Although the embodiment described as an illustration of the invention has two cranks 30 and 3| and two alternately operative sets of needles, it is obviously within the ability of anyone skilled in the art to make an embodiment having three or four or even more sets of pinion, crank and needle carrier. In such a case the number of reciprocations of any one subgroup of needles per revolution will be only one third, or one fourth or some correspondingly smaller fraction of the number of strands being knitted. As each subgroup of needles will have as many needles as there are strands to be knitted, such a machine will have three or four or more times as many needles altogether respectively {as there are strands.

' So also the ratio of reciprocations to revolutions may be such and the timing so adjusted that each loop of each strand is knitted into the second strand away instead of into the nearest strand. Such a product of a two crank machine is shown in Fig. in which the loops along C-C are formed by one group of needles and those along DD are formed by the other group.

In the simplest possible form there is only one crank actuating all the needles simultaneously, having as many needles as strands and knitting successive rows of loops, as EE and F-F, at successive reciprocations.

The embodiment herein disclosed is merely illustrative and may be modified and departed from in many ways without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention as pointed out in and limited solely by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a knitting machine a rotatable needle cylinder, a needle carrier mounted thereon to rotate therewith and to reciprocate thereon, a plurality of needles mounted on the carrier to move therewith, and a rotatable eccentric member connected to the carrier to reciprocate the same and mounted to revolve with the rotation thereof.

2. In a knitting machine a rotatable needle cylinder, a pair of needle carriers mounted thereon to rotate therewith and to reciprocate thereon independently of each other, a plurality of needles mounted on each carrier to move therewith, and a rotatable eccentric member connected to each carrier to reciprocate the same and mounted to revolve with the rotation thereof.

3. In a knitting machine a rotatable needle cyl inder, a plurality of needle carriers mounted thereon to rotate therewith andto reciprocate thereon independently of each other, a. plurality of needles mounted on each carrier to move therewith, and a rotatable eccentric member connected to each carrier to reciprocate the same and mounted to revolve with the rotation thereof.

4. In a knitting machine a stationary frame, a ring gear stationarily mounted thereon, a rotatable frame coaxially within the ring gear, a needle cylinder mounted coaxially in the rotatable frame to rotate therewith, a plurality of needle carriers mounted in the rotatable frame to rotate with the needle cylinder and to be reciprocable withrespect thereto, and means within the rotatable frame rotatable therewith and driven by the ring gear to reciprocate each needle carrier individually.

5. In a knitting machine a stationary frame, a ring gear stationarily mounted thereon, a rotatable frame coaxially within the ring gear, a needle cylinder mounted coaxially in the rotatable frame to rotate therewith, a plurality of needle carriers mounted in the rotatable frame to rotate with the needle cylinder and to be reciprocable with respect thereto, and means within the rotatable frame rotatable therewith and driven by the ring gear to reciprocate each nee-' dle carrier individually, each of said means comprising a pinion engaged with the ring gear, an eccentric rotating member driven by the pinion, and means to connect the eccentric member to its needle carrier.

6. In a knitting machine a stationary frame, a ring gear stationarily mounted thereon, a rotatable frame coaxially within the ring gear, a needle cylinder mounted coaxially in the rotatable frame to rotate therewith, a plurality of needle carriers mounted in the rotatable frame to rotate with the needle cylinder and to be reciprocable with respectthereto, and means within the rotatable frame rotatable therewith and driven by the carrier individually, each of said means comprising a pinion engaged with the ring gear, a crank driven by the pinion, and a connecting rod to connect the crank to its needle carrier.

ring gear to reciprocate each needlev GEORGE E. I-IENNING. 

